Chance Stewart was in the training room Monday just before noon at Sturgis High School.

He had no idea two United States Army Staff Sergeants were waiting to see him. After Sturgis Athletics Director Mark Adams went to get Stewart and brought him back to the cafeteria, he still wasn’t sure what was going on.

That was, of course, until Staff Sgt. Josh Stith and Staff Sgt. Kelly Robinson handed him a personal letter, congratulating him as one of 400 high school football players across the country to be nominated for the U.S. Army All American Bowl.

Of the 400 nominated, 90 will be selected as U.S. All Americans and play on Jan. 4, 2014, in San Antonio for the All American game.

“It’s an honor and it’s exciting to see all the hard work pays off for stuff like this,” Stewart said.

Stith presented the award to Stewart in the cafeteria while many high schoolers were eating their lunch. He received a rousing applause.

“It was a surprise, I didn’t have any idea until this happened,” Stewart said of not hearing about the nomination until this morning.

The senior-to-be quarterback of the Trojan football team has a four star rating at recruiting sites ESPN and Rivals.com.

He’s committed to play at Western Michigan University but is currently in the middle of the baseball season.

“I’m trying to think about baseball lately because I’ve been struggling,” he said. “But football’s on my mind all the time.”

Sturgis football coach Jimmy Lamb said he’s proud of what Stewart has accomplished so far with one year left.

“I’ve been with him four years and this coming year will be my fifth and he’s helped me become a better coach,” Lamb said. “I think the greatest thing about Chance is his ability to lead and to help others get better. Whether that’s players or coaches, a lot of things we do are designed to fit his needs because he’s a strong part of our system. But he gets others to jump on board with him and it makes life a lot easier being a coach.”

Stewart, one of a handful of commits for Western’s 2014 class according to several recruiting websites, is the highest ranked player to commit to the Broncos.

He holds a Rivals250 ranking as one of the best 250 players in the country (ranked No. 215) and Western has not been able to get a player of that caliber in the Rivals.com era.

Western football coach P.J. Fleck is the youngest head coach in Division I football and became the first coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) to have been born in the 1980s.

Page 2 of 2 - Stewart said Fleck played a major role in picking the Broncos.

There have been several other quality players from around the state that have also committed to Western as well.

“I’ve seen some other guys get these honors and it’s a cool thing,” Stewart said. “I’m glad and I’m really excited this opportunity has come up and it’s going to be a cool process — it’s just exciting.”